mindful birth project
Hypnobirthing, childbirth preparation and postnatal support in North West London
What is hypnobirthing?
Hypnobirthing is a complete antenatal course. It provides a toolkit of strategies and approaches that will enable you to approach the birth of your baby with joy and excitement. Hypnobirthing aims to eliminate fear and tension through a process which involves physiological education, visualisation and relaxation. Within each and every hypnobirthing course, I aim to create a welcoming and inclusive environment where women and their birth companions can confidently seek out information, ask any question and expect to receive evidence-based guidance from an unbiased perspective. However you wish to give birth, hypnobirthing will empower you to have the best experience possible for you and your baby.
The central themes of hypnobirthing are:
PHYSIOLOGICAL EDUCATION
Understanding how your body develops through pregnancy and the physical changes that happen while giving birth. This provides understanding about the ways in which our bodies are perfectly designed to carry babies and give birth
VISUALISATION
Replacing negative ideas about childbirth with positive, detailed reference points which can be easily visualised. Reprogramming your mind to approach birth with confidence and assurance
BREATHING
Perhaps the most important aspect; learning to control your breath and focus on your breathing to bring about a calm birth
RELAXATION
Hypnosis is just another word for deep relaxation. You will learn how to quickly go deep into relaxation so that your body can birth your baby without tension or fear
ADVOCACY
Giving you and your birth partner the confidence and knowledge to feel in control of the experience. Birth isn’t something that ‘happens to you’: you’ll be able to calmly and rationally work towards the best birth for you
WHAT HYPNOBIRTHING ISN’T:
It is not stage hypnosis. I think in some ways the name “hypnobirthing” is misleading. The programme is a complete, rational, educational antenatal programme which empowers parents with knowledge and confidence. It incorporates aspects of self-hypnosis, during which you are completely in control.
Hypnobirthing does not stand in opposition to science and evidence. In fact, the focus on physiology, anatomy and a full understanding of how the pregnant body works is perfectly aligned with the medical approach. Hypnobirthing takes the medical model as a foundation but also recognises how the mind, media and societal interventions impact on the experience of childbirth.
MINDFUL BIRTH PROJECT MANIFESTO
*
Birth is a natural, normal and healthy human experience. Women's bodies are created to conceive babies, nurture babies and birth babies. In the absence of any special circumstances, healthy women and their healthy babies deserve to be attended in a caring manner.
*
Families wishing to have natural, unmedicated births should be supported in their decision and encouraged through care and information to view birth as a positive, natural and joyous experience.
*
Women, their partners and their babies should be recognised as the principal players in this most significant experience. They deserve to be listened to and acknowledged as an integral part of the birthing team.
*
Normal, uncomplicated birth should be allowed to naturally unfold in its own time, without interruption.
*
Pregnant couples should be encouraged to ask questions and express their wishes or concerns. They deserve to receive answers from their care providers that enhance their confidence and esteem as parents.
*
Care during birthing should be based solely on the wellbeing and needs of the mother and baby, and not upon time constraints or the needs of caregivers or facility administration.
*
Routine, non-evidence based procedures, testing and drugs should be avoided during the pregnancies and birthings of healthy women unless there is specific, scientific indication for their use.
*
Women's bodies and, in particular, their vaginas are as sacrosanct during pregnancy and birth as they are at any other time.
*
“All that you are is the result of all you have thought”
Buddha
